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New to Photoshop - Advice Needed
- Thread starter OasisNYK
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I'm sure people would reccomend lots of books to you but I hate books.
I use google and projects to learn
I only learn what I need, when I need it.
Start a project or need to manipulate something then I do what I can and google the rest
I use google and projects to learn
I only learn what I need, when I need it.
Start a project or need to manipulate something then I do what I can and google the rest
This was recommended to me when I asked this same question... I never even looked at the site. I find it incredibly boring to sit down and do 'exercises' I would rather learn by doing... but thats me and I had the opportunity to practice as I went along. Apparently that sites the bomb but it costs?
Personally, I would strongly advise looking into a basic course either online or preferably at a local cummunity college/school, where you sit at a computer and have a teacher there to guide you. These are relativey inexpensive and provide a good, solid, base for learning and applying skills in the App.
It's not really something you can poke around in and pick up on your own, (imo). Photoshop is a tremendously powerful yet intimidating software program. Once you learn the basics and are able to get around in the program you can certainly pick other things up rather quickly on your own, either through online tutorials, books, or even posting questions on forums like this one.
Something like this would be perfect to get you started, a 2-day weekend "crash course" so to speak. You can find courses like the one in the following link in your area with a little research:
http://www.its-ideal.co.uk/courses/photoshop.html
It's not really something you can poke around in and pick up on your own, (imo). Photoshop is a tremendously powerful yet intimidating software program. Once you learn the basics and are able to get around in the program you can certainly pick other things up rather quickly on your own, either through online tutorials, books, or even posting questions on forums like this one.
Something like this would be perfect to get you started, a 2-day weekend "crash course" so to speak. You can find courses like the one in the following link in your area with a little research:
http://www.its-ideal.co.uk/courses/photoshop.html
Lynda is great. I haven't checked out their Photoshop tutorials though. They're always good but some are 'good' whereas others are brilliant.
I learnt by creating projects *starting from college *and then learning more and more features as needed. But I think if you watched some of the lynda tutorials (they are engaging a lot of the time so you wont get bored). And then worked on a few of your own projects with what you've learnt, you'd be well on the way.
I'm not sure i'd agree with that but it depends on how well someone picks up software. Photoshop is not so complex really and it's got very low barriers to entry. You can open a photo and play around with the tools and get a very good handle on it. Pair this up with some good foundation tutorials and you'd be away. Because it's a mainly revolves around 2D image manipulation the tool analogies used within the program are very simple and therefore make sense very quickly.
Sure, if you have the time, patience and leisure to poke around, search for tutorials, read through books and learn by trial and error, otherwise you could get a good handle on the fundamentals and learn all of the basics listed below from a seasoned pro in a 6 hour crash course.
The Photoshop Environment: What does Photoshop do? Introducing pixels and selections. The navigator window: getting around in an image, zoom shortcuts. Using the history palette. Multiple undo and snapshots.
Image Basics: Resolution and file size. Different image formats and their uses. Colour types.
Selection Basics: The different selection tools. The magic wand and tolerance settings. Inverting selections. Feathering selections. Anti-aliasing. Expanding and contracting selections, transforming selections, adding to and subtracting from selections.
Adjusting Images: Working with Levels and Curves. Hue and saturation. The info palette.
Layers: Creating new layers and duplicate layers. Importing layers from other images. Giving layers transparency. Linking and merging layers
Channels: Adjusting individual channels. Saving and loading selections.
Saving Files: Adjusting image size. Changing colour type. Flattening layers. Cropping images.
The Painting Tools: Brush selection and adjustment. Colour selection. Creating new brushes. Using patterns. The other painting tools. The healing and clone stamp tools
Masks: Quick masks. Layer masks. The graduated fill tool. Editing gradient properties
The Pen Tool: Creating and editing paths. Generating clipping paths.
More About Layers: Adding layer effects. Creating and using layer sets. Clipping groups and their uses. Changing the hierarchy of layers.
Working with Type: Editing type. Colouring type. Distorting type Rasterizing type layers.
I guess it comes down to your overall objectives, learning style and time. If you are just interested in playing around with the tools and in no rush to learn all the basic fundamentals at once, then poking around the net and teaching yourself is a very viable option.
Thanks for the info - I might try a course if I have some time, I have a basic understanding of photoshop but have a lot to learn. I know what layers are and have used them a little but need to get better at it. I will check out the lynda site as well.
I'm sure people would reccomend lots of books to you but I hate books.
I use google and projects to learn
I only learn what I need, when I need it.
Start a project or need to manipulate something then I do what I can and google the rest
This is how I've learned to use almost every program I've ever owned. Wait until i needed to do something specific, then looked up how to do that.
psdtuts.com
im 17 and ive learned so many things with photoshop and all self learned
through google, then when i a design course last year i was teaching the teacher
how to do things
im 17 and ive learned so many things with photoshop and all self learned
through google, then when i a design course last year i was teaching the teacher
how to do things
I've been using Photoshop professionally and as a hobby for several years. The book that I've found the most useful, especially when I first learned Photoshop, is Katrin Eismann's "Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching" (http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Res...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245978204&sr=8-1).
There are files online that you can download, so you can work along with her. It's a great book for photo editing, restoration, retouching... If you're using Photoshop as a fine arts tool, it doesn't cover that.
There are files online that you can download, so you can work along with her. It's a great book for photo editing, restoration, retouching... If you're using Photoshop as a fine arts tool, it doesn't cover that.
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I'd highly recommend going the book route. It's important to start with a good foundation of understanding to build on top of later with online tutorials and other tips and tricks you may pick up along the way.
As for what book to start with I don't have any suggestions. I'm not sure what's new and good anymore. I recommend heading to your local bookstore and reading the preface of each book that looks interesting. Find one that appeals to you.
Be warned that they can be pricey, though. You may want to see if you get a better deal on Amazon first before shelling out $50 or more.
As for what book to start with I don't have any suggestions. I'm not sure what's new and good anymore. I recommend heading to your local bookstore and reading the preface of each book that looks interesting. Find one that appeals to you.
Be warned that they can be pricey, though. You may want to see if you get a better deal on Amazon first before shelling out $50 or more.